Little Seth Helps a Friend
by Waverin1
Summary: Seth is a bright little kid. But can he face his biggest challenge yet, tutoring a kid? Chapter 4 up!
1. Can You Tutor Him?

Little Seth sat in the back of the room while his 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Cannon talked. Seth, unlike a few other people, was trying to pay attention. He wanted to learn how to multiply numbers so he can grow up and be like his dad. He is unaware that lawyers don't use that much math. But he listens anyway, when he's not to busy thinking. Seth always thinks about everything. About his life, about Newport and about everyone. He thinks about how Summer feeds that skinny squirrel because the fat squirrel eats his food. He smiles at that thought.  
  
"Seth come up to the board and solve three of these problems," Mr. Cannon said. This was it! His chance to impress Summer! He went up to the board and looked at the four problems: 3x3, 5x2, 4x1 and 8x2. He knew all the answers. "Can I answer all of them?" Seth asked. "Go ahead," his teacher said. Seth answered everyone correctly. 9,10,4 and 16 were his answers. "Good job Seth. Now I'm going to write down four harder ones. Can you answer them?" The teacher asked. He looked at Summer. "I'll try," he said. The teacher put up four problems: 8x8, 7x9, 6x8 and 8x9. Seth thought for a moment. He put up these answers in order: 64, 63, 48 and 72. "Excellent job. See me after class. I need to ask you a favor," Mr. Cannon said. Did he do something wrong?  
  
After class, when everyone was gone, he went up to Mr. Cannon. "Am I in trouble?" Seth asked. "No! Of course not. I need you to do me a favor," he said. "What is it?" Seth asked. "Well, we're getting a new student. He's starting tomorrow, but I asked him to come. He'll be here in a few minutes. I need you to catch him up in Math. He's a little behind in it," Mr. Cannon said. "I'm not that smart," Seth said. Mr. Cannon bent down to reach his height. "You answered problems we didn't learn yet. You can handle tutoring," he said.  
  
About 5 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Mr. Cannon said. The door opened. In stepped a little kid. "Where are your parents?" Mr. Cannon asked. "They couldn't make it," the kid said. He looked at the other kid. "Are you new also?" He asked. "No," Seth said. "This is your tutor for math. He's a really intelligent kid. Why don't you two get to know each other? I'll be right back," Mr. Cannon said. "Hi. I'm Seth Cohen," Seth said. The kid stared at him. "I'm Ryan Atwood." Seth stared at him. "So where are you from?" he asked. "Chino. Ever hear of it?" Ryan asked. Seth nodded. "We had to do a report on any place in California other than Newport, and I did Chino," Seth said. Ryan looked at him. "You did?" He asked. Seth nodded. "Why did you do Chino? It sucks there," Ryan said. "It was a small little place no one ever heard of. I got an A+ on it for being so creative," Seth said. "You like to talk don't you?" Ryan asked. Seth nodded. "And proud of it," he said. Ryan knew that he was going to like Seth and Seth knew he was going to like Ryan. "I guess having a tutor won't be so bad," Ryan said. 


	2. Learning Some Math and Meeting Her

Ryan and Seth walked back to Seth's house. "So why don't you talk?" Seth asked. "I don't like to. In Chino, if you open your mouth, you're as good as dead," Ryan said. Seth got nervous. "Oh. Well here we are," Seth said. Ryan looked up at the huge house in front of him. Seth went over to the gate and pushed a button. "Hello?" someone asked. "Hey mom!" Seth said. "Hold on sweetie," she said. Ryan looked down. "Are you ok?" Seth asked. "What? Oh yeah. It's just that my mother never says anything like that," Ryan said. "I'm sorry," Seth said. Ryan shook his head and they went inside.  
  
"Who's your friend Seth?" his father asked. "This is Ryan. He just moved here. I'm tutoring him in math," Seth said. "Hello Ryan. I'm Sandy. My wife's name is Kirsten if you see her." Sandy put his hand out. Ryan took it. "You got a grip kid," Sandy said. "Thanks," he said. "I need to talk to you for a minute," Sandy said. "Am I in trouble?" Seth asked. Sandy shook his head. "You can sit in the living room. It's down the hall to your right," Seth said. Ryan nodded and went inside.  
  
Seth went into the kitchen. His parents were there. "I am so proud of you for tutoring him," Kirsten said. "Thanks mom," Seth said. "What's with his outfit? He's wearing a wifebeater, leather jacket and navy blue jeans," Sandy said. "Remember when I did the report on Chino?" Seth asked. His parents nodded. "Well, Ryan's from Chino," Seth said. Sandy's eyes widened. "What's his last name?" Sandy asked. "Atwood." Sandy looked worried. "What is it honey?" Kirsten asked. "I'm defending his brother, Trey Atwood. Apparently, Trey bought a gun to school and held it up to his teacher's head a few days ago," Sandy said. Kirsten looked worried. "Go back inside Seth. Ryan's probably getting nervous," Kirsten said. Seth went back inside.  
  
"Sorry it took so long," Seth said. "Do you want me to leave?" Ryan asked. "No. Your fine. My dad thought you looked familiar," Seth said. "Why? Has he seen me before?" he asked. "He's defending your brother Trey. He bought a gun to school and held it to a teacher's head," Seth said. "Oh yeah. No wonder his name sounded so familiar," Ryan said. "Are you hungry? I can get us something to eat," Seth said. Ryan nodded and got back to his book. "You like reading?" Seth asked. Ryan nodded. "It helps me get away from my drunken mother and her boyfriend for the week," Ryan said. "Wow. That must be hard," Seth said. "A little," Ryan said. "So. Are you ready to learn math?" Seth asked. Ryan closed his book. "Sure. I think it's gonna be a fun subject to learn," Ryan said.  
  
About 5 minutes later, Seth had his math textbook out. "It took you that long to get a book out?" Ryan asked. "Sorry but my bag's a mess," Seth said. "We'll start with simple problems. I'll write them down and you do them," he said. Seth wrote down 5 problems on the paper. Ryan answered 3/5 correct. "You got 3 out of 5 correct, which isn't so bad. I'll show you how to do these," Seth said. About 2 minutes later, Ryan got the problems right.  
  
"Let's take a break," Seth said 20 minutes later. "Thank you!" Ryan said. Just as Seth went to go into the kitchen, the doorbell rang. "I got it!" Seth called out. He opened the door and saw Marissa Cooper standing there. "Marissa! You never came over here before. You need something?" Seth asked. "Yeah. My mom needs-"she was cut off when she saw Ryan. "Who's that?" she asked. "Oh that's Ryan Atwood. He's new and is starting school tomorrow. He's gonna be in our class," Seth said. "He's cute! Oh God! Don't tell Luke I said that!" Marissa said. Ryan noticed her. He went over to the door and put his hand out. "Uh hi. I'm Ryan Atwood," Ryan said. Marissa took his hand. "I'm Marissa Cooper. I live next door from Seth," she said. "I'll be right back," Seth said. He went into the kitchen.  
  
Marissa and Ryan stood in silence. "So uh, who's your teacher?" Ryan asked. "Mr. Cannon. You?" she asked. "Same," he said. Before Marissa knew what she was doing, she leaned in and kissed Ryan. He didn't push her away, which was a good sign. She got really into it, but the kiss was over all too soon. Ryan put his hand out and she took it. They walked hand in hand into the Cohen kitchen. 


	3. Look At His Record!

"Do you guys like Ryan?" Seth asked. His parents looked at him. "Of course we do! Why wouldn't we?" Kirsten asked. Seth shrugged. He looked toward the living room and saw Marissa and Ryan come in. Seth could have sworn they were holding hands a second ago. "Hello Marissa. How are you?" Sandy asked. "I'm fine. My mother needs sugar. She's gonna try and cook herself. She's not making a maid or my father do it," Marissa said. Kirsten went over to the cabinet, but Sandy stopped her. "You can't touch anything that has to do with food," Sandy said. Kirsten put her hands up and back away. "How much do you need?" Sandy asked. Marissa shrugged. Sandy gave her 3 cups worth. "Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Cohen," she said. "Honey please. Call us Sandy and Kirsten," Kirsten said. "So Ryan, are you hungry?" Sandy asked.  
  
Ryan and Seth had sandwiches. While they were eating, the doorbell rang. "I got it!" Seth said as he ran to the door. It was Marissa, again. "You're killing me Cooper!" he said. "Ha ha. Where's Ryan?" she asked. "RYAN!" Seth screamed. Ryan came in. "It's for you," Seth said. He went into the kitchen and left them alone.  
  
"I have to tell you something," Marissa said. "What is it?" Ryan asked. "Well, I have or had a boyfriend. His name is Luke. I broke up with him about 5 minutes ago. Just, try and stay on his good side tomorrow," Marissa said. "No problem. I'll only talk to him if he talks to me. I learned that the hard way," Ryan said. "OK. Bye," Marissa said. They kissed and Marissa left.  
  
Seth went back into the kitchen, puzzled. "What is it son?" Sandy asked. "I could have sworn that I just saw Ryan and Marissa kiss," he said. His parents looked at him. "Are you sure?" Kirsten asked. Seth nodded. "That was quick," Sandy said. Kirsten and Seth agreed.  
  
Ryan came back into the kitchen. "Wanna go upstairs?" Seth asked. "Uh, sure," Ryan said. They went upstairs, leaving a very confused and puzzled Sandy and Kirsten behind.  
  
Ryan stared in amazement. "Nice room." He said. "Yeah. I get bored a lot, so I'm redoing it often," he said. Seth went into his closet and pulled out a duffle bag. "Do you like comics?" he asked. Ryan shook his head. "I never read one," he replied. "Really? Well, you can read this," Seth said giving him SPIDERMAN.  
  
They read comics and watched TV for a little while, and then Seth popped the question. "Are you dating Marissa?" Seth blurted. Ryan looked at him. "I think so. When you left, we were talking and she kissed me. Then she got her sugar and left. Then, she came back a second time and told me that she broke up with her boyfriend Luke," Ryan said. "Woah dude. Stay on Luke's good side and don't let him know that you're dating Marissa," Seth said. "Don't worry. I won't," Ryan said. They went back to watching TV.  
  
At about 6:30, Ryan left. Seth asked if he could sleepover, but it was a school night, so it was a no. "Please!!??" Seth asked. "NO!" Sandy and Kirsten said. Seth went to the door and said bye to Ryan. Sandy came over as Ryan left. "We need to have a talk," Sandy said.  
  
They went into the kitchen where Kirsten was. "Am I in trouble?" Seth asked. "Sit," Sandy said. Seth sat. "As you know, Ryan has a brother named Trey. Trey's in middle school. He is in HUGE trouble. He bought a gun to school and put it to a teacher's head as you know," Sandy said. "Now, I looked at Ryan's file. Ryan Benjamin Atwood was born on June 18th, 1987 in Chino California," Sandy said reading from Ryan's file. "His parents are Dawn and Dave Atwood, and both have a criminal record. Dave's currently in jail and Dawn was arrested a few times," Sandy continued. "Trey was in juvy a few times. But Ryan, I'm amazed. Ryan has a clean record, except for one incident," Sandy said. "What did he do?" Seth asked. "He was in juvy because he was accused of stealing, when Trey really did it, so he's clean," Sandy said. "OK... Why are you telling me this? Seth asked. "We are warning you. He's an Atwood. Atwoods are trouble," Kirsten said. "You can't stop me from being his friend and tutor. I will get him better in math and I will be his friend cause in case you haven't noticed, he's my only friend," Seth said. 


	4. Picking Instruments and Making New Frien...

Great, Seth thought to himself as he got onto the bus. He knew this was going to be a bad day, but then he remembered. He had a friend. Ryan was his friend. Seth was bouncing in his seat until Ryan came on the bus. Everyone stared at him as he sat down next to Seth. "Look man. I just wanted to let you know that I'm NOT the most popular kid in school," Seth said. "I know. I heard some kid at my bus stop say that he was gonna beat the crap out of you," Ryan said. "Luke probably," Seth said. Ryan nodded. "He seemed upset. He didn't tell his friends why, but I had a feeling it was Luke," he said.  
  
About 10 minutes later, they got to the school. "Come on. I'll show you around," Seth said. Oh fun, Ryan thought as he followed Seth into the building. Seth was pointing to classrooms and everything until they reached their classroom. "Ready?" Seth asked. No, Ryan thought. "Sure," he said.  
  
There was only 5 other people in the classroom so far, including Marissa. There was no Luke, thank God, Ryan thought. Marissa came up to him. "Uh, I'll be going," Seth said quickly. He went to the back of the room to his cubby. "I'm sorry about the other day. I don't usually kiss people. Actually, I never kissed anyone," Marissa said. She was blushing. "It's fine. I never kissed anyone before either," Ryan said. Then, Luke walked in and Marissa walked away. She sat down in her seat next to some girl. "Hey Ryan! Come here!" Marissa said. Ryan went over to Marissa and the other girl. "This is Summer Roberts. Summer, this is Ryan Atwood," Marissa said. Summer smiled and Ryan gave her a fake half smile.  
  
He went over to Seth, who was by his cubby. "Here is yours," he said. Ryan looked to Seth's left and saw that his cubby was right there. On the other side of Ryan's cubby, was Luke's. "Don't worry about Luke. If he says hi or anything, just say hi back," Seth said. "OK. I get that. I won't spoke to him unless he's speaking to me first," Ryan said. Seth thought for a moment. "Yeah uh huh," he said.  
  
They went over to their desks. "Mr. Cannon put us together for everything," Seth said. "I noticed," Ryan said. Ryan looked at his desk. It said RYAN A. on it and had a multiplication chart and the alphabet taped to it. "Cool huh? Now we can't forget our ABCs," Seth said sarcastically. Ryan let out a chuckle as Mr. Cannon walked in.  
  
"Hello class," he said. "Hello Mr. Cannon," everyone said. "We have a new student joining us today. Ryan, can you come up here?" Mr. Cannon asked. Ryan sighed and went to the front of the room. "Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?" Mr. Cannon asked. "Uh, hi. I'm Ryan Atwood. I just moved here from Chino about five days ago. I uh, I have a brother named Trey and he's in sixth grade," Ryan said. Summer raised her hand. "Yes Summer?" Mr. Cannon asked. "Is your brother THE Trey Atwood? The one who bought a gun to his school?" Summer asked. Ryan nodded. "Well thank you Ryan. You can sit now," Mr. Cannon said. Ryan sat down. "Well, I have good news guys! It's November and do you know what that means?" Mr. Cannon asked. No one answered. "It's time to pick the instrument you want to play if you want to play one!" Mr. Cannon said. So many little, beaming eyes looked up. "I'll pass out the forms. The instruments are in alphabetical order," he said. He passed them out. Ryan was eager when he got his. He looked for his instrument and there it was. The Alto Saxophone. Ryan put down a check in the Saxophone box. "What do you want to play?" Ryan asked. "I don't know. I might try the drums, but a lot of people are going to try that," Seth said. "Why don't you play the Saxophone? That's what I'm playing," Ryan said. "OK. I'll try it. It sounds like a cool instrument to play," Seth said as he checked the box for ALTO SAXOPHONE.  
  
At 11:30, the bell rang for recess. "So why do you want to play the Saxophone?" Seth asked. "Well, my dad listened to jazz before he got arrested and I always loved listening to the Saxophone. I would go down to the music store that was about 3 blocks away and look at the Saxophones. The guy that owned it, Jack, he would let me play one that was lying around. I even know a song," Ryan said. "Which one?" Seth said. "Tequila," Ryan said. "REALLY? I always loved that song. When we get the instruments, can you teach me how to play?" Seth asked. "Why not," Ryan said.  
  
30 Minutes later, the bell rang for lunch. Ryan and Seth went inside to sit with the rest of their class. Marissa and Summer sat with them. "So what instrument are you playing?" Marissa asked. "We're playing Saxophone. What about you?" Ryan asked. "I'm playing Clarinet and Summer's playing the Flute," Marissa said. "Wow. The Flute looks hard. Do you know how to play anything?" Seth asked. Summer shook her head. "My aunt knows how to play. She's gonna help me," Summer said. "That's nice. I wish someone in my family knew how to play ANYTHING and I'm not just talking about instruments. I mean video games and how to work a walkman," Seth said. Marissa and Summer laughed. Luke came over. "Hey Ryan. I'm Luke. I think you are at my bus stop," Luke said. "Yeah. I was. Are you playing an instrument?" Ryan asked. "Yeah. I'm playing Drums. I already know how to play a little. What about you guys?" Luke asked. "Seth and I are playing Saxophone, Summer's playing Flute and Marissa's playing Clarinet," Ryan said. "You're playing Saxophone?" Luke asked. "Yeah. I know how to play Tequila," Ryan said. "Wow. That's a great song. Can I sit with you guys?" Luke asked. Ryan moved over and Luke sat down. Ryan knew that this was going to be a good year. 


End file.
